Chapter Text
They don’t notice him. Not even the robot. He’s slowed his heart rate, a simple task, the robot’s reliance on thermal imaging will not show Izuru. And the others are too busy squabbling to look.
“I love this photo of you Maki.” The giggling Kokichi holds up one of the propaganda posters.
It’s a series of photos taken when Maki attacked the decoy vehicle. The first is her flinching from the initial flash. Her looking around confused. And finally, her running away when she feared the van was a bomb.
Beneath that are bright letters saying: ‘Behold the face of despair!’
Propaganda is a powerful weapon. No one fears Maki, and her own confidence has diminished. As it stands now she hardly deserves the title Ultimate Assassin.
“But this one of Kaito is good.” Kokichi holds up the mug shot of the Ultimate Astronaut. He presses it against the first poster. “Here I’ll make em kiss.”
Maki draws her revolver and cocks the hammer. If she were of a clearer mind she would have noticed before pulling the trigger. The gun clicks and checking the cylinder she finds it empty.
Kokichi giggles and holds out his hand, six bullets lay in his palm. Kokichi finessed all of Maki’s ammunition when he bumped into her earlier. Maki draws her knife. Kokichi whistles and Gonta rises to attack.
“Enough.” The chilly voice of Kirumi Tojo cuts across the room. “If you must kill yourself do so in a manner that benefits our organization.”
Since the capture of Kaito and Tsumugi, the Future Foundation has seen nothing but success. A prosperous alliance with the Kingdom of Novoselic allowed them to take a greater offensive. Bit by bit Despair is being pushed back. And now that Kirumi sees how few seats at the table are filled perhaps she realizes her loss.
“I haven’t heard from Angie since she went to Himiko’s base in Las Vegas. There’s reports Korekiyo has turned traitor, and-”
“Miu’s dead, she tried building a sex bot and it killed her cuz she was so ugly.”
“-Miu was supposed to have arrived yesterday.”
“I’m sure our friends are fine.” The robot says with ignorant cheeriness.
Kirumi ignores it and looks to Shuichi. The detective gives a blunt summary. “I think it’s safe to say she’s been captured.”
“Shut the hell up Shuichi.” Kaede’s sing-song voice matches her cheery smile. “No one should listen to him, he’s a pathetic loser who can’t do anything right.”
Shuichi’s deductions were solid. Izuru watched him during the investigative process. He correctly assumed that the collapse of Miu’s foundries were more than a freak accident. It takes a great level of skill to recognize Nagito’s brand of luck. But the timid man weeps and revels in the abuse of his comrade.
Izuru ignores Kirumi’s chastising of the others. He glides over to the robot. Standing directly in front of it. And yet it doesn’t respond. Even when he holds back his hair, giving a clear glimpse of his former friend’s face. Nothing.
How boring. The robot couldn’t surpass its limitations. It couldn’t even undo its own rewiring. Izuru considers restoring the old personality, but it wouldn’t matter. Nothing matters. No one notices when the robot’s rear hatch is opened. Nor do they notice the pitching whirring of the reactor core. In 27 seconds, the robot will detonate killing all the gathered members of despair.
They’re going to lose. In three months’ time a united offensive will have been gathered to retake Japan. After the kill or capture of the leaders the remaining holdouts will fall. It’s better to end things now and find something new that interests him.
Izuru counts down in his head. With three seconds left he cancels the detonation. He’ll watch this play out. Perhaps he’ll be surprised again. The Future Foundation has forged impressive results before, perhaps it will do so again.
Izuru leaves Hope’s Peak Academy without so much a glance his way. He spares a look of, well not contempt but not apathy, towards Junko’s shrine. Her ‘lover’ hasn’t stopped sobbing since he arrived. He decides to go to Angie’s Island. Korekiyo has divulged the history of Atua to the Future Foundation. Perhaps they will use that to sway her from Despair.
If that proves boring. He’ll return to his old task, finding Rantaro’s sisters. It’ll be interesting how they react seeing their brother’s body is not his own.